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The Caterpillar's Footprint
The Caterpillar's Footprint
The Caterpillar's Footprint
The Caterpillar's Footprint
The Caterpillar's Footprint
Bookworms Virtual Program
Cast
Storyteller: Michael-Ellen Walden
Musician: Yongwoo Park
Puppeteer: Josh Bernaski
Puppeteer / Storyteller Understudy: Serena Collins
Performance Facilitator / Puppeteer Understudy: Nic Russo
Musician Understudy / Performance Facilitator Understudy: Linnaea Groh
Production Team
Written by: Jeff Sachs
Director: Jamie Macpherson
Stage Manager: Miranda Taylor
Scenic & Properties Designer: Amy Gilman
Costume Designer: Jade Zhang
Storyteller Costume Designer: Haleigh Kent
Puppet Designer & Fabricator: Rich Goss
Dragon Puppet Designer & Fabricator: Michele Stine
Music Consultant: Kalyssa Montoya
Poster Art by Kelly Joyce Fielder
Special thanks to:
Rachel Hartmann
Wyatt Kent
Danielle Stack
Emilie Wingate
Michael-Ellen Walden (they/he) - Storyteller
Michael-Ellen (Mikey) Walden is an actor, writer, musician, and teaching artist based in Chicago. He has always been drawn to the sense of play children have and the way that play frees artistic impulses for people of all ages. He has worked as a teaching artist with Chicago Children's Theatre, Jamberry Music, Chicago Center for Music Education, ImagineU, and Stomp & Shout. His recent artistic projects have included “TL;DR” (actor/musician, Theo Ubique), “Bookworms” (actor, Kerfuffle), and “House of Dreams: Purim 5785” (actor/deviser). Outside the classroom, you might find them singing country classics at karaoke or talking to Lake Michigan.
Form_Responses
Michael-Ellen (Mikey) Walden is an actor, writer, musician, and teaching artist based in Chicago. He has always been drawn to the sense of play children have and the way that play frees artistic impulses for people of all ages. He has worked as a teaching artist with Chicago Children's Theatre, Jamberry Music, Chicago Center for Music Education, ImagineU, and Stomp & Shout. His recent artistic projects have included “TL;DR” (actor/musician, Theo Ubique), “Bookworms” (actor, Kerfuffle), and “House of Dreams: Purim 5785” (actor/deviser). Outside the classroom, you might find them singing country classics at karaoke or talking to Lake Michigan.
Form_Responses
Michael-Ellen (Mikey) Walden is an actor, writer, musician, and teaching artist based in Chicago. He has always been drawn to the sense of play children have and the way that play frees artistic impulses for people of all ages. He has worked as a teaching artist with Chicago Children's Theatre, Jamberry Music, Chicago Center for Music Education, ImagineU, and Stomp & Shout. His recent artistic projects have included “TL;DR” (actor/musician, Theo Ubique), “Bookworms” (actor, Kerfuffle), and “House of Dreams: Purim 5785” (actor/deviser). Outside the classroom, you might find them singing country classics at karaoke or talking to Lake Michigan.
Yongwoo Park (he/him) - Musician
Yongwoo is a Korean-American actor, martial artist, musician, educator, and filmmaker originally from Pittsburgh, PA. Equally passionate about all those things, he has taught preschool, writes songs for kids and not-kids alike, and competes across the country in full contact karate and kickboxing. Theatre credits include The Chinese Lady (Studio Theatre TDS), That's Weird, Grandma! (Playmakers Laboratory), and You For Me For You (Sideshow Theatre). TV credits include Chicago PD and Detroit 1-8-7. Represented by Lily's Talent. Website: TheYongwoo.com
Josh Bernaski (he/him) - Puppeteer
Josh is thrilled to perform with Kerfuffle again! Recently, Josh bounced across the country puppeteering Tigger and Eeyore in Disney's Winnie the Pooh. In Chicago, he's worked with Paramount, Manual Cinema, Lifeline, Shakespeare Project, Drury Lane and others. Josh is also the founder of The Connecting Routes Project, which has collaborated with Kerfuffle in creating and touring The Conductors since 2020. www.joshbernaski.com
Serena Collins (she/her) - Puppeteer / Storyteller Understudy
Serena is a multi-hyphenate theatre artist based in Chicago. She is an ensemble member of Ark Adventures with the K’ilu Company, an alumni of Shattered Globe’s protégé program, and a teacher-in-training at Alexander Technique Training in Chicago. She feels inspired by the bold and brilliant young people who remind her how to play, imagine, and have fun on a daily basis. She received her BFA in acting from the University of Utah. www.serenacollins.com
Nic Russo (he/him) - Performance Facilitator / Puppeteer Understudy
Nicholas Russo is delighted to be a part of Kerfuffle's bookworms! After graduating from Louisiana State University in 2022, where he received a bachelor's degree in Theatre Studies, he moved to Chicago with his friends in the Two Chairs Theatre Co. where they performed improv, original plays, and musicals. He has since worked with companies like Green Shirt Studio (TAPE) and Blue in The Right Way (The Tender Trap) and is currently in the casts of Peter Pan and Mrs. Claus the Musical with Chicago Kids Company.
Linnaea Groh (they/she) - Performance Facilitator Understudy / Musician Understudy
Linnaea is excited to be back with Kerfuffle after playing "Duck" in Toddler Hiking Club (Kerfuffle/Northbrook TYA.) Linnaea was previously a Music + Art teacher at Bubbles Academy and is currently a company member, teacher, and Administrative Assistant with PlayMakers Laboratory Theater.
They have worked in theaters across Chicagoland as an actor, musician, and improviser including Steppenwolf Lookout Series, Strawdog Theater, Filament Theater, iO Theater, and Bughouse Theater. Originally from Washington State, Linnaea received a B.A. in Acting from Western Washington University & is a former Mainstage Improviser at Ryan Stiles' Upfront Theater in Bellingham, WA.
They have worked in theaters across Chicagoland as an actor, musician, and improviser including Steppenwolf Lookout Series, Strawdog Theater, Filament Theater, iO Theater, and Bughouse Theater. Originally from Washington State, Linnaea received a B.A. in Acting from Western Washington University & is a former Mainstage Improviser at Ryan Stiles' Upfront Theater in Bellingham, WA.
Jamie Macpherson (she/her) - Director
Jamie is a Chicago-based director who specializes in theater for young audiences. She has been an invited artist at Macalester College, Augsburg College, and the Lawrence Art Center. Recent credits include: Treasure Island (Mudlark Theater), Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (First Act, Madison), Marian: the True Tale of Robin Hood (Stevenson). Her work has been published in Youth Theater Journal, Howlround, and The Fight Master. Jamie holds an MFA in Theatre for Youth from Arizona State University, and spends her days as a preschool teacher at Stepping Stones Nursery School. Check out more about her work at jamiemacpherson.com.
MT Taylor (she/they) - Stage Manager
MT (she/they) is thrilled to be making her Kerfuffle debut, stage managing this fantastic team! They are a type one diabetic theatre artist; stage managing, production managing, teaching, acting and directing in the Chicago area. Most recently, she has partnered with Probascis Theatre and worked on Problem Play. She works diligently to create inclusive spaces and foster athletes of empathy. Thank you to the cast and creative team for this beautiful and delightful journey. #insulin for all @miranda_j_taylor
Jade Zhang (she/her) - Costume Designer
Jade is a North Carolina based costume designer. She received her MFA in Costume Design from the University of Florida, and currently serves as a faculty member in the Department of English, Theater and World Languages at University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Past selective credits: Over the River and Through the Woods (Tibbits Opera); Sweeney Todd (Tibbits Opera); Intimate Apparel (Asolo Rep); the Prom (University of Florida); La Mar (Y no Habia Luz); Lend me a Tenor (Timberlake Playhouse); Legally Blonde (Timberlake Playhouse); Rhinoceros (University of Florida); Working Joe (University of Florida) … Design website: https://www.jadezhangcostumedesign.com
Haleigh Kent (she/they) - Storyteller Costume Designer
Amy C. Gilman (she/her) - Scenic and Properties Designer
This is Amy's first time working with Kerfuffle. Amy is an freelance Exhibit Designer, specializing in designing museum exhibits and environments for children for clients including Richmond Children's Museum, Magic Discovery Center, American Girl, and others. Her theater work includes working as props artesian at the Goodman and designing for other theaters in Chicago including Filament Theatre, Stage Left, Theatre Seven, Prologue Theatre, Factory Theatre and others.
Rich Goss (he/him) - Puppet Designer
Rich has been a puppeteer and maker his whole life. His puppets have been seen in "Let me Hear You Whisper", "The Lion King jr.", "She kills Monsters" and "A Christmas Carol". Rich is the owner/director of SilverWolf Productions providing scenic needs and more across the country, bringing his skills to the theater community for 34 years. When not in a theater or making puppets, Rich can be found working on his living art project "The Dread Pirate Ship SeaWolf" as the pirate Captain Lucan S. Wolfe.
Michele Stine (they/she) - Dragon Puppet Designer & Fabricator
Kalyssa Montoya (she/her) - Music Consultant
Kalyssa Rose Montoya is a playwright, puppet designer, sound/foley designer, and performer whose work weaves together magical realism with poetry, humor, music, and puppetry. Raised in the rural mountains of Idaho and now creating in Chicago, she crafts stories that spark connection, cultivate kindness, and enhance empathy.
Jeff Sachs (he/him) - Playwright
Jeff (he/him) is a theatre artist and arts administrator in Lexington, Kentucky. He has worked artistically with Kerfuffle as the playwright of Bookworms, the scenic designer for the Chicago premiere of Goose and Gert and the original production of The Caterpillar's Footprint, and the production designer for wonderwander. Originally from Long Island, Sachs has worked as a teaching artist in Illinois, Kentucky, and Arizona. He has his bachelor's in Theatre from Northwestern University, his M.F.A. in Theatre for Youth from Arizona State University, and his M.B.A. from DePaul University. He is the managing director of Lexington Children's Theatre and Kerfuffle.
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